Velocipede



March 10. 1 925.

- W. H. MEYER VELOCIPEDE Filed Aug. 16

1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR W. m ATTORNEY March 10. 1925. 1,528,980

w. H. MEYER VELOCIPEDE Filed Aug. 15 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I II]- mun -g1 Walierbfll yerg INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 10, 1925.

wnmnn n., n -nn,,or 4WASHINGTO'N, DISTRICT or COLUMBIA.

VELQQIPEDE.

earta filed August s, 1923. Serial No. 657.,8 015.

To all whomylt. mag concern: I

Bcfit known that I, WALTER H. MEYER, a citizen of theUnited States, and residing at 1489 Massachusetts Ave. N\V., VVashington, in theDistrict of Columbia, have invented certain .new and useful Improveent n ve o ired if-W i h th follow lls! is a pe fi a ion "T is in en io a es to amus men -devices,-particularly to wheeled tpy vehicles, and hasfor its objectthe provisionofa novel jointed vehicle,formedjasthe representation of. a'horseonother animal and provided with means whereby propulsion may be effected, the arrangement. and construction ,heingsuch that'the ,device will have the appearance of a galloping horse, theaction being veryrealistic and giving the rider, to a certain extent, the sensation of riding upon such an animal.

An important and more specific object is the provision of .a novel propelling means which is operable both by hand and foot, this means"alsoxacting to accomplish steering.

.An. additionalv object is the provision of a vehicle ,of this type which-will; be simple and inexpensive in manufacture, eflicient and ententaining in use, conducive to health by giving proper exercise, durable inservice, and a generalimprovement inthe art.

With the above. and other objects and ad vantages in view, the invention consists in the combination and arrangement of .the

' several parts to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which F gure '1. i vsid elev ion of th d vi showingi in @n po t Fig re '2- a'simi ar V ew sho i g th Parts at the ther l mit of heir m v ment. [Figure v3 is a top plan View.

jliiguree is arear elevation. .Beferring more particularly to the draw.- ings, the, numeral 10 designates, broadly, the. body of, the device which is formed in thepre'sent instance to represent a horse but which I might of course simulate any other a mal, This b dy rf r f o saints 1 and .h ng y o n cted, at 13- The forwardlsee ionll ormed as the head, neck and fore-legs of the animal, While the rear section 12 is-formed as the ind. qua t rs Th ea se tion 12 ca ies I i a suitable seat or saddle 15, and is preferably provided with a tail 16 to make the figure realistic, and the forward section may have a mane and bridle painted or otherwise provided thereon to improve the appearance and heighten the attractiveness to the youthful mind.

lsee red'tofthe rear sectio 1.2 f th b dy and extending a, distance beyond the hinge 13am engaging the head section 11, there is provided two plates 11 and 1%, respec-.

tively, the'purpose ofwhich is'to prevent lateral movement between'the head section 11 and tail section 12, and to also prevent the gripping of the riders person or clothing between the respective sections.

The hind legs 17 are provided with suitable bearings for the rear axle 18 which carries ground engaging wheels 19 and which has its intermediate portion formed.

with a crank-20. The wheels are here disclosed as being of the disk type and may in actual practice be simply wooden disks such as are used on certain styles of toy vehicles in popular use, though, if preferred, the wheels might just as well be of therubber-tired spoke type, such as are used on velocipedes and the like, such details being immaterial.

Rotatable through the rear portion of the front section 11 of the body is an inclined upright post 21 restrained against longitudinal movement by collars 22 and 23 which engage against the upper and lower edges of the front section 11, respectively. The upper end of this post carries a handle 24,

- while'the lower end terminates in a fork 25 within which is journaled the front wheels 26. The rear edge of the head section 11 isinclineddownwardly and outwardly, as indicated at ll, and isprovided. at the bottom thereof with an extension 11", tlie'purpose of which will be hereinafter described. The front e'dgeof the rear sectionis inclined downwardly and inwardly as indicated at 12, and is provided with a shoulderedrecess .12 for engagement with the. extension 11" on the head section 11. The purposelof these arrangementsis to provide against collapsing of the parts while the rider is mounting, and to absorb the shocks while in operaion, ecure 'ren ppo sides of th from legs'alfe foot rests'27 which may be used in conjunction with the handle 2% for etfecting propulsion. Engaged upon the crank 20 is a forwardly extending link 28 which has its forward end laterally dellected at 29 and rotatably engaged through the front legs, withdrawal being prevented by means of a cotter pin 30 or other equivalent means.

As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the parts are in the inoperative position, the position of the front wheel26 being slightly to the rear of the hinge 13, the faces 11 and 12, and the extension 11'. and recess 12 of the sections 11 and 12, being in contacting engagement.

In operating the device a child seats himself upon the saddle l5, grasps the handle it and rests his feet upon the foot rests 2?. By pushing forwardly with the feet and at tlie same time drawing back on the handle, it is apparent that the two sections of the horse will be swung relatively far apart on the hinge 13, as shown in Fi 2, the distance between the front and rear wheels then increasing. After the handle is pulled back, it is then pushed forwardly which will rc salt in swinging the sections together again. This action is continued and it is, of course, apparent that the link 28 engaged upon the crank 20 will operate to turn the rear axle 18 which carries the rear wheels so that the device will be propelled along the ground or other surface. To ellect steering it is merely necessary to turn the post Qt. and consequently the wheel 26, by turning the handle 24- in one direction or the other, this steering action not interfering in any way with the propulsion.

From the foregoing description and a study f the drawings it will be apparent that I have thus provideda simply con structed and easily manipulated toy vehicle which will be most entertaining and amusing in use on account of its life-like movements which are well calculated to simulate those of a horse or other animal. It is evident that the device may be constructed at small cost and it is also apparent that, owing to the fewness of the parts, that there is very little to get out of order so that it should have a long life and satisfactorily perform all of its functions.

\Vhile I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is, of course. to be understood that I reserve the right to make such changes in the form, construction and arrangement of parts as will not depart from the spirit of the in vention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A device of the character described comprising a jointed body including front and rear sections, an axle carried by the rear section and provided with ground on gaging wheels and a crank, a link pivotally connected with said crank and with the lower end of said front section, and a post journalled through the vided at its lower end with a front wheel and at its upper end with a controlling handle.

2. A device of the character described comprising a. jointed body including front and rear sections, an axle carried by the rear section and provided with ground engaging wheels and a crank, a link pivotally connected with said crank and with the lower end of said front section, a post journalled through the front section and provided at its lower end with a front wheel and at its upper end with a controlling handle. and means forming part of said rear section for holding the jointed sections against lateral movement.

3. A device of the character described comprising a jointed body including front and rear sections, an axle carried by the rear section and provided with ground engaging wheels and a crank, a link pivotally connected with said crank and with the lower end of said front section, a post journalled through the front section and provided at its lower end with a front wheel and at its upper end with a controlling handle, and foot rests projecting laterally from the lower portion of the front section.

4:. A device of the character described con'iprising a body including front and rear sections hingcdly connected at their upper edges. the body being formed to simulate an animal and including front and rear legs on the respective sections, and an axle carried by the rear legs and equipped with ground engaging wheels, a crank on said axle, a link pivotally connected with the crank and with the front legs, a post journaled through the front section and carrying a handle, foot rests projecting'from the sides of the front section, a front wheel journaled on the lower end of said post. and means for holding the jointed sections against lateral movement.

5. A device of the character described comprising a body formed of front and rear sections hingedly connected at their upper edges, plates secured to one of said sect-ions for preventing lateral movement between the said sections, an axle journaled through the rear section and carrying ground engaging wheels, said axle being formed with a crank, a link pivotally connected with said crank and with the front section, a dirigible wheel carried by the front section, and means carried by the front section whereby to effect steering, said means being connected with the said dirigible wheel.

6. A device of the character described comprising a body formed of front and rear sections hingedly connected at then.-

front section and proupper edges, devices associated with the said sections for preventing lateral movement between the said sections, an axle journalled through the rear section and carrying ground engaging wheels said axle being provided with a crank, a link pivotally connected with said crank and with the front section, a dirigible wheel carried by the front section and means carried by the front section whereby to effect propulsion, said 1 means being connected to said dirigible Wheel.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature.

VALTER H. MEYER. 

